Federal Judge Edward Korman ruled today that the so called “Plan B,” or “morning after pill” must be available to anyone who wants it.

The drug could be sold next to other over-the-counter medications.

This is the way it works: Containing the synthetic hormone levonorgestrel, the pill works by preventing a fertilized egg from attaching itself to the uterine wall. But it must be taken within 72 hours of unprotected sex. It cannot terminate an existing pregnancy.

Its primary purpose is to be used as “emergency contraception, such as when a condom breaks.

The drug has a history dating back to 1999 when the FDA approved prescription sales. In 2006, it was approved to be sold without a prescription, and in 2009 a judge set age requirements of 17 or older.

Today’s ruling eliminates the age requirement, as Judge Korman repeatedly referred to the “bad faith” that resulted in restricted access to the drug in the past.

“Today science has finally prevailed over politics,” said Nancy Northup, president and CEO of the Center for Reproductive Rights, which first petitioned the FDA to make the emergency contraceptive available over the counter in 2001. “Women all over the country will no longer face arbitrary delays and barriers just to get emergency contraception.”

Speaking at a news conference, Dr. Cora Collette Breuner, a pediatrician at Seattle Children’s Hospital, said the ruling made her proud “as a woman and as a doctor and as a mother of three children.

“This statement and this ruling are long overdue and especially welcome by all of us at the American Academy of Pediatrics,” Breuner said.

She said that the drug must be affordable for all women who are sexually active at any age.

When I was first married in 1967, the “pill” had just become popular with young women. The Catholic Church made attempts to disallow its use. The “Women’s Movement” was gaining strength and reason won over religion.

The “Church” is once again outraged. A spokesman for the Catholic hierarchy complained that Plan B removes parental controls over underage children.

Recent polls of Catholic members displayed a different attitude. Most believed that they were morally right using methods of contraception unacceptable to the Church.

I am in full agreement with former Republican Senator Alan Simpson who said; Abortion is “a deeply intimate and personal thing,” and that “men legislators shouldn’t even vote on it.”

It’s time women are allowed to make their own decisions about their own bodies.